Hammarlund SuperPro 210-LX / BC-779-A

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Hammarlund SuperPro 210-LX / BC-779-A

by Josh Rovero, KK1D

Last updated: December 17, 2016

The Hammarlund SP-210-LX is an 18-tube, single conversion superhet receiver. It covers 0.1-0.4 and 2.5-20 MHz in 5 bands. The radio and cabinet weigh a mere 73 pounds (33 kg) while the separate power supply adds another 57 to 61 pounds.

References:

War Department Technical Manual TM11-866, 31 August 1943 "Radio Receivers BC-779-B, BC-794-B, and BC-1004-C and Power Supply Units RA-74-C, RA-84-B, and RA-94-A"
Instruction Book for "Super-Pro" Radio Receiver (100-400 kc and 2.5-20 Mc), overprinted "Radio Receiver BC-779-A and Power Supply Unit RA-84-A", Undated, "Published by Authority of The Chief Signal Officer, Order No. 21109.
"Series 200 Super-Pro by Hammarlund", undated.
"Communications Receivers, The Vacuum Tube Era 1932-1981", 3rd Edition, by Raymond S. Moore
Contributors....

Rack mount version of the Hammarlund SP210.

Cabinet version of the Hammarlund SP210, from the cover of a marketing booklet.

SuperPros at War! (Well, Cold War, with the emphasis on cold). Recent (1950!) photo of Airman J.C. Stott, AC5ZT, tending to two SuperPro and two Navy RBA receivers at the Narsarssuak, Greenland, USAF base.

Check out Rich Post's restoration of a R-129/U SP-200 variant. Rich also has photos of a BC-779-A produced by Howard Radio for Hammarlund.

Francesco Piva's Hammarlund Super Pro page. He has a number of other interesting older receiver's under the Hobby heading of his home page.

Eberhard Hewicker's BC-779-A. Here is the full size image. Eberhard has also created modern schematic drawings, which can be found on the Technical Data page.

Additional BC-779 images from Google Image Search

Excellent Southern California Antique Radio Societey articles about Hammarlund Super-Pros and their use in the Alaska Communications System.

The Hammarlund Super Pro Wikipedia Page

Hammarlund Series 200 History

Hammarlund Series 200 Technical Data

Hammarlund Series 200 Performance